Northern Ireland football: Michael O’Neill’s side to play Guinea in June friendly

Northern Ireland will play Guinea on Thursday, 4 June in an international friendly in Spain.

The game will be played at the Estadio Ciudad de La Linea in the Province of Cadiz, with the kick-off time to be confirmed at a later date.

In the first of two post-season fixtures, Michael O’Neill’s side will then face Kylian Mbappe’s France in the host’s World Cup send off in Lille on 8 June.

Northern Ireland missed out on the 2026 World Cup after losing 2-0 to Italy in their play-off semi-final in Bergamo.

Guinea’s hopes of reaching the finals in the USA, Canada and Mexico were ended by a fourth-place finish in their qualifying group.

Despite reaching the quarter-finals in 2023, Guinea did not qualify for the most recent edition of the African Cup of Nations in December.

Paolo Duarte’s side are ranked 80th in the world and their most recognisable player is Borussia Dortmund striker Serhou Guirassy, who has scored 11 goals in 28 caps.

Northern Ireland have played African opposition on four previous occasions. The last meeting against a team from the continent was a 1-1 draw with Morocco at Windsor Park in 2010.

The most famous game against African opposition was at the 1986 World Cup when Norman Whiteside scored in a 1-1 draw with Algeria.

After June’s friendlies, Northern Ireland are next in action when the Nations League begins in September with matches in Georgia and a home match with Hungary.